TRIM WASTE RECYCLING — REPURPOSED DOLLARS

Recycling and selling trim waste can be quite lucrative for those graphic arts establishments that generate copious amounts of said material. Quad/Graphics, of Sussex, WI, certainly fits that description—if any printer can fill a scrap box with paper scraps, it’s a $1.8 billion annual performer. Quad averages about 1,500 tons of trim per month from press and finishing, not including the process tonnage of signature and white waste, etc., according to Pat Rock, recycling manager for the Sussex plant. That tonnage (total waste is 4,500 tons/month overall) is generated in the Sussex facility alone.